A Gentle Man's Horse

Farid Albadeia (Ameer Albadeia x Farida)

For many people, Farid Albadeia was the living representation of the ideal Arabian stallion. Farid's beauty was so legendary, that Farid was named National Champion Stallion of Egypt more than once! So many years later, with a smile, I can say that he lives...the memory of this great horse is relevant today, as he was yesterday. He is truly timeless.

Farid Albadeia was a son of Ameer Albadeia, which also made him a paternal grandson of *Malekat El Gamal. An absolutely beautiful grey mare, *Malekat El Gamal, foaled in 1968, was bred by Sayed Marei. Sired by the Nazeer son, Waseem and out of the Nazeer daughter, Nagdia; *Malekat El Gamal, by virtue of her pedigree, was 50% Nazeer, which is the equivalent of having Nazeer as a sire, even though the horse had died eight years earlier. *Malekat El Gamal had a most soulful expression and her eyes were enchanting. Perhaps this is where Farid inherited his most beautiful eye because if there was one attribute that more people remembered Farid for, it was his large, lustrous, black eye. They were like windows, allowing a glimpse of his kind, gentle and heavenly soul. The concentration of Nazeer in Farid's pedigree is as intense as we found it to be in *Malekat El Gamal. Farid carries 5 lines to Nazeer or, 43.75% of the pedigree reflects this influential horse. What's even more interesting, is the concentration to the mare, Bint Samiha, the dam of Nazeer. Farid traces to her through Nazeer plus an additional 2 lines through Zahia, which boosts the percentage of her influence to approximately 26.56% of his pedigree. Not only is Farid a pure-in-the-strain Hadban Enzahi, his dam, Farida and *Malekat El Gamal, the dam of his sire, were sisters, as both mares are offspring of Nagdia, which makes the influence of a few individuals in Farid’s pedigree, that much more intense. For example, the difference between the sisters comes down to two individuals, the stallions *Ramses Fayek, who brings in the influence of Farida; while on the sire side, it is Waseem and the Kuhaylan Rodan influence through Malaka. The multiple sources of the Hadban Enzahi strain, together with 3 crosses to the Kuhaylan Rodan strain, plus an equal number of crosses to the Dahman stallion, Sid Abouhom, all work together to explain the strong, compact, masculine and muscled physique we see in Farid. 

Farid Albadeia (Ameer Albadeia x Farida)

He was impressively built, like a horseman’s horse. Well-muscled and substantial, he exhibited the strength that most of us expect to see in a stallion. Like most horses with ties to the mare, Farida, Farid had a deep and powerful hip, flowing into a strong croup and loin. His hind end was full, rounded and was smooth, strong and powerful, balancing an equal amount of power on his massive front end. His neck was gracefully arched with the most impressive crest that I have seen on an Arabian stallion and was set higher on his chest, anchored by a beautiful, laid-back shoulder. His overall balance and harmony conveyed a picture of overwhelming beauty. There are very few horses who can compare to the level of quality that Farid possessed in abundance. However, Farid was more than a correct stallion, for all of the powerful energy radiating from his body, he also had some of the finest features which not only included his eye but also, his chiseled head was short and wide, the fine skin accentuating the prominence of bone and vein, smaller ears and large, elastic nostrils enhancing the look of an authentic desert horse. 

Farid was bred twice to the most beautiful Egyptian Arabian mare of recent times, the world champion mare Gelgelah Albadeia, to produce two beautiful fillies: Farha Albadeia in 2000 and Bashooshah Albadeia in 2002. Both Farha and Bashoosha were bred to Majd Al Rayyan (Safir x Ansata Nawarra) and produced fillies (Kenooz is Farha's filly, while Tasaheel was produced by Bashoosha), who have also been incorporated into the breeding herd. While Gelgelah was purchased by Halsdon Stud in England, her full sister, Galagel Albadeia, was also bred to Farid twice and produced Shakawa  and Sonbolat AlBadiea. Galagel is out of Anhar Albadeia, a daughter of Ameer Albadeia, the sire of Farid, therefore, the doubling of the blood of *Malekat El Gamal. Farid also sired Sondos Albadeia, a beautiful bay mare out of Mahasen Albadeia, a top mare in the Albadeia breeding program.  Sondos produced Itlalah, another exciting show mare who was named multi-champion in Europe, including Supreme Champion in The European Egyptian Championships held in Baden Baden, Germany. One of the most successful show mares of Egypt and the queen of the show ring, Ibtehag Albadeia (Badran Albadeia x Halawat Albadeia) was bred to Farid and produced a son named Inshallah Albadeia. This stallion, at two years of age, won National Junior Champion in his first show ever! He was gifted by a gentleman from the Gulf to HRH Prince Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz, then crown prince of KSA. Inshallah Albadeia stayed at the prince's private stud farm, Al Janaderia, in Riyadh. The prince became the King of KSA and Inshallah Albadeia remained at Al Janadeia for years.  Farid is currently represented in the Albadeia program by his sons: Nagham Albadeia (out of Dnadanah Albadeia), Dahoom Albadeia (out of Simeon Safir) and  Burhan Sakr (out of Alidarra). Farid was like the national treasure of Egypt and to this day, people lament his loss, because horses like Farid bring comfort to the soul, merely by their presence. 

****This blog post is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Nasr Marei, still deeply missed by many people, all over the world. You can read a more complete version of Farid's story within The Arabian Breeders' Magazine, Volume IV, Issue II****